One Step Deeper
Hell was burning like always, but the deeper you went, the colder it became.
Not the kind of cold that numbed the skin no, this was the kind that gnawed at your bones, that whispered to your sanity with every step.
And Kairo Vale?
He had no idea how he was even alive, he kept walking straight.
Far above him, the surface of Hell trembled in chaos. The Seven Demon Kings also known as Seven Hell Sovereigns had made their move.
Word had spread the "Divine Intruder" lived. Armies of hell scattered. Forces were deployed. Not one corner of the infernal realm was untouched by the hunt.
But Kairo wasn't on the surface anymore.
He had fallen too far for that.
The landscape around him had changed. No longer open plains of fire and ash—now it was cramped tunnels, jagged deepslate corridors that pulsed like veins, and walls that bled whispers instead of blood.
And something darker stirred in the shadows.
Not a beast. Not a demon.
Something worse.
He kept moving.
His breathing was ragged, his body bruised from the last ambush. The demon that attacked him had looked like a stitched corpse wrapped in chains—its claws had raked across Kairo's ribs, nearly ending him. But something inside him had surged again.
That sick, cold light.
The Order.
He had lashed out with it, broken its jaw, crushed its chest. He shouldn't have survived.
And yet here he was.
Every step forward was agony.
Every breath was a gamble.
But Kairo didn't stop.
The Will was with him.
It had once been a cruel presence—a voice like rusted knives and brimstone thunder, whispering for him to die. But lately... it had changed. Its tone had softened. Its guidance became precise.
When Kairo stumbled into a dead-end tunnel, the voice had warned him.
When a lurking predator poised to pounce, it had screamed.
Now it spoke like an ancient teacher.
A master.
An echo that had seen too much.
"Endure. The Catacombs await. You must reach the Grave of Sorrow. Only then will your real death begin."
He didn't know what that meant.
He didn't care.
He only knew one thing:
He wasn't alone anymore.
Hours passed. Or days. Time didn't flow normally down here.
Kairo's body was beginning to change he could feel it.
His wounds healed faster now. Not instantly, but unnaturally.
He hadn't eaten in what felt like weeks, yet his hunger burned more like fuel than weakness.
His eyes adjusted to the dark like he was born in it.
And deep in his chest, where that burst of corrupted Order once came from… something stirred.
Something alive.
"Am I still human…?" he muttered.
Suddenly, a screech split the silence.
Low. Jagged. A sound that didn't belong in this plane.
Then came the skittering.
Claws scraping against stone. Multiple sets.
They were fast.
Too fast.
Kairo's instincts screamed, and the Will echoed in sync:
"Incoming. Fight, do not falter."
From the shadows, four demons surged forward.
Tall and skeletal, with spider-like limbs and crooked, elongated skulls.
Some of their legs were like they had skipped leg day for a while.
Their mouths unhinged sideways, vomiting thick mist that sizzled on the rock.
The first one lunged fast, a blur of limbs and hunger.
Kairo didn't think. He just moved.
He dropped low, the claws slicing through the air where his head had been just a second before. He could feel the wind off them razor sharp, inches from his scalp.
Instinct screamed louder than fear.
He twisted on his heel, one hand planting hard against the stone, the other snatching the demon's leg mid-spin. Its skin was leathery, slick with heat and rot. It shrieked in surprise—but it was too late.
Kairo used its momentum, letting it carry itself into the kill.
He slammed it into the cavern wall with a brutal crunch that echoed down the tunnel like breaking bones under a steel boot.
The spine folded unnaturally, backwards before the rest of the body crumpled in a twitching mess. Its claws scratched weakly at the floor.
Satisfying.
But there was no time to process.
A wet growl hissed from his left.
The second one was already there.
Before he could dodge
Pain.
Burning, ripping pain tore across his shoulder.
Its claws sank in hot metal through muscle and dragged deep.
Kairo's vision flared white.
His breath hitched.
He almost dropped.
But that pain? It lit something inside him.
Rage.
Survival.
Refusal to die.
He spun on instinct, blood trailing from the gash across his shoulder like a crimson ribbon. He stepped in-close, too close for the demon's reach to matter and drove his elbow up into its throat with everything he had.
A sickening pop.
It choked.
He struck again.
And again.
Each hit more desperate than the last.
Then he gripped its jaw—twisted sideways with raw fury and drove his knee into its face, shattering bone and dropping it to the ground in a heap.
His shoulder pulsed with pain. Warm blood soaked down his side.
But he was still standing.
Breathing.
Alive.
Barely.
But Kairo screamed.
He moved through the pain.
He stepped in close, too close for its reach to matter, and drove his elbow into its throat. One strike. Two.
Then he brought his knee up hard, shattering the demon's jaw.
It gurgled something then dropped.
The Will asked "Behind you, turn around."
It was too late he couldn't dodge it or turn back.
He couldn't.
But something inside him something cold, cracked, and coiled snapped loose.
The Order surged.
Wild. Uncontrolled. Pure chaos trapped in his skin.
A blinding burst of purple beam exploded from his back not radiant, not infernal, but something warped and wrong. The air itself twisted. The walls screamed.
And in that moment, Kairo felt like his chest was splitting open.
His heart burned. His veins pulsed like they were going to detonate.
He dropped to one knee, choking nearly coughing up a mouthful of blood but the power didn't stop.
The demon behind him didn't stand a chance.
The surge slammed into it like a falling star.
Its body was shredded mid-pounce, torn into smoldering ash and bone fragments that scattered across the stone floor like broken glass.
Silence fell.
Kairo gasped for air, sweat pouring, hands trembling.
He pressed a palm to his chest—his heartbeat was ragged, chaotic, barely holding rhythm.
"W-What… the hell was that…??"
The Will knew.
"Order," the Will said softly.
"But not as they know it. It's becoming yours now."
Kairo didn't respond.
He didn't understand it.
But whatever that thing inside him was, it was fighting for him, it wanted to keep him alive.
Even if it was killing him in the process.
And somehow…
he welcomed it.
The burst sent the creature flying.
The fourth was smart.
It stayed back. Studying.
"That one thinks," the Will of Hell said.
"Make it regret."
Kairo grinned.
He charged first this time.
It retreated too slow.
Kairo tackled it to the ground and unleashed hell.
Fists pounding. Bone breaking under knuckles. His hands were bleeding, but he didn't stop.
He grabbed a shard of obsidian off the ground and drove it through the demon's skull.
When it stopped moving, Kairo finally stood.
Breathing hard.
Blood trickling down his side.
But alive.
The cave was quiet again, save for the drip of black demon blood.
He looked at his hands.
Torn. Raw. Shaking.
But he wasn't trembling from fear.
He was... burning.
The Wil inside him said, sounding oddly proud like they had a master disciple relationship.
"Good. You'll need worse."
Kairo didn't answer. He just walked forward.
One step closer to the Catacombs.
One step deeper than he was.